Rediscovering the Loveliest Rail Trail: Greenbrier River Trail

The Greenbrier River Trail is a lineal state park protecting the almost 78-mile rail trail — the longest rail trail in West Virginia — between North Caldwell and Cass in eastern West Virginia. It runs through Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties, mostly within sight of the Greenbrier River. I first encountered the Greenbrier River Trail years […]

The Waterfowl Festival Continues 50-Year Tradition of Celebrating Maryland’s Eastern Shore Heritage

The quintessential festival of Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Waterfowl Festival just celebrated its 50th year November 12 – 14 in Easton, a town that still retains its old-timey charm and is known for its vibrant culinary and arts communities, as well as its historic downtown. The town’s charm translates to the festival itself — the Waterfowl […]

Exploring a Lake in the Sky: Lake Minnewaska

Although originally we’d come to Minnewaska State Park, located in the Shawangunk Mountains in Ulster County, NY, for its water falls — Awosting Falls, Stoney Kill Falls, and another waterfalls that we ended up not going to — we came back simply to hike around Lake Minnewaska itself.  Minnewaska State Park Preserve is nestled within […]

The Best Kept Secrets of Laurel Hill State Park

Like its sister park, Linn Run State Park, one county to the west, Laurel Hill State Park area was a desolate mess a hundred years ago. The lumber boom that swept through the hills and forests of Pennsylvania missed Laurel Hill Valley until 1886. But the lumber industry came for the old-growth forests of hemlock and […]

Could There Be a Qainter Town Than Shepherdstown WV?

Shepherdstown dates back to 1762; Thomas Shepherd founded Mecklenburg, as it was known then, was a bustling little town of 100 by 1775, filled with millers, tanners, potters, smiths and other artisans who appreciated the six natural springs which feed Town Run as it enters the south of town. This small stream meanders through backyards, under […]

The Hidden Catskills Waterfalls Along the Vernooy Falls Hike

The Vernooy Kill Falls Hike is a short, out-and-back hike — either 2 miles or 3.6 miles, depending where you pick up the trailhead — to a very pretty waterfall. The falls is a series of picturesque little waterfalls with pools, dropping about 30 feet in 4 stages. During the warmer months, this would be […]

Cool Ruins and a Waterfall Along the Madam Brett White and Red Trail

Madam Brett Park is a tranquil little park on Fishkill Creek in Beacon NY, alongside the Hudson River in Dutchess County, not far away from the Hudson Highlands Park. We were there to hike the “Madam Brett White and Red Trail, an out-and-back trail to a waterfall and marsh overlook. This area is noteworthy because […]

Fort Mill Holds the Best Preserved Civil War Battle Trenches

Believed to be the best preserved examples of Civil War earthworks still in existence, the Fort Mill Ridge Civil War Trenches are battle trenches just outside of Romney WV that were dug between 1861 and 1863.  The onsite signs on site indicate that the earthworks were dug in 1863; however, other sources claim that the […]